Implement mounted sensors sensing surface/furrow characteristics and control

Abstract

A mobile agricultural machine includes a row unit having a furrow opener mounted to the row unit and configured to engage a surface of ground to open a furrow in the ground. A furrow closer is mounted to the row unit behind the furrow opener and configured to engage the surface of the ground to close the furrow. A furrow sensor system is mounted to the row unit and configured to sense characteristics relative to the furrow opened by the furrow opener and generate a sensor signal indicative of the characteristics. The mobile agricultural machine can further include a control system configured to determine a furrow quality metric corresponding to the furrow sensed by the furrow sensor system based on the sensor signal and generate an action signal to control an action of the mobile agricultural machine based on the furrow quality metric.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A mobile agricultural machine comprising:
 a row unit comprising:
 a furrow opener mounted to the row unit and configured to engage a surface of ground over which the mobile agricultural machine travels to open a furrow in the ground; 
 a furrow closer mounted to the row unit behind the furrow opener relative to a direction of travel of the mobile agricultural machine and configured to engage the surface of the ground to close the furrow; and 
 a furrow sensor system mounted to the row unit, the furrow sensor system comprising an imaging system configured to travel outside of the furrow and capture an image of the furrow, while the furrow is open, the image indicative of a plurality of different characteristics relative to the furrow; and 
   a control system configured to determine a singular furrow quality metric indicative of an overall quality of the furrow based on the plurality of different characteristics detected by the furrow sensor system and to generate an action signal to control an action of the mobile agricultural machine based on the singular furrow quality metric.   
     
     
         2 . The mobile agricultural machine of  claim 1  and further comprising:
 a user interface device; and 
 wherein the action signal is configured to control the user interface device to generate a display indicative of the singular furrow quality metric. 
 
     
     
         3 . The mobile agricultural machine of  claim 2 , wherein the control system further comprises:
 a map generator configured to:
 map the singular furrow quality metric to a corresponding geographic location on the surface based on a location sensor signal generated by a geographic position sensor, the location sensor signal indicative of a location of the mobile agricultural machine when the furrow sensor system sensed the plurality of different characteristics relative to the furrow; and 
 wherein the action signal is configured to control the user interface device to generate, as the display indicative of the singular furrow quality metric, a display indicative of the mapped singular furrow quality metric. 
   
     
     
         4 . The mobile agricultural machine of  claim 1 , wherein the control system comprises:
 a furrow quality determination system configured to process the image of the furrow captured by the imaging system to extract a respective value corresponding to each characteristic of the plurality of different characteristics of the furrow indicated by the image of the furrow.   
     
     
         5 . The mobile agricultural machine of  claim 4 , wherein the furrow quality determination system is further configured to assign a respective scaled value to each respective value extracted from the image of the furrow, each respective scaled value indicating a quality of the corresponding characteristic. 
     
     
         6 . The mobile agricultural machine of  claim 5 , wherein the furrow quality determination system is further configured to aggregate the scaled values to generate the singular furrow quality metric. 
     
     
         7 . The mobile agricultural machine of  claim 1 , wherein the control system further comprises:
 a change identifier configured to:
 compare the singular furrow quality metric to a previously determined furrow quality metric; and 
 determine, based on the comparison, a change in furrow quality has occurred, wherein the control system generates the action signal to control the action of the mobile agricultural machine based on the determination that the change in furrow quality has occurred. 
   
     
     
         8 . A method of controlling a mobile agricultural machine comprising:
 sensing a plurality of different characteristics of a furrow opened by a furrow opener mounted to a row unit on the mobile agricultural machine, with a furrow sensing system while the furrow is open and while the furrow sensing system travels outside of the furrow, wherein sensing comprises capturing an image of the furrow, opened by the furrow opener mounted to the row unit on the mobile agricultural machine, while the furrow is open, the image indicative of the plurality of different characteristic of the furrow:   determining a singular furrow quality metric, indicative of an overall quality of the furrow, based on the plurality of different characteristics of the furrow sensed by the furrow sensing system; and   generating an action signal to control an action of the mobile agricultural machine based on the singular furrow quality metric.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein generating the action signal to control an action of the mobile agricultural machine comprises:
 generating the action signal to control a user interface display on the mobile agricultural machine to generate an indication of the singular furrow quality metric.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein controlling the user interface display on the mobile agricultural machine to generate an indication of the singular furrow quality metric comprises:
 generating a map having an indicator that indicates the singular furrow quality metric at a corresponding geographic location on an agricultural surface; and   controlling the user interface display on the mobile agricultural machine to generate, as the indication of the singular furrow quality metric, a display of the map.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein determining the furrow quality metric further comprises:
 processing the image of the furrow to extract a respective value corresponding to each characteristic of the plurality of different characteristics of the furrow indicated by the image of the furrow.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein determining the furrow quality metric further comprises:
 assigning a respective scaled value to each respective value extracted from the image of the furrow, wherein each respective scaled value indicating a quality of the corresponding characteristic.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein determining the furrow quality metric further comprises:
 aggregating the scaled values to generate the singular furrow quality metric.   
     
     
         14 . A mobile agricultural machine comprising:
 a furrow opener configured to engage a surface of ground over which the mobile agricultural machine travels to open a furrow in the ground;   a furrow sensor system comprising an imaging system configured to capture an image of the furrow opened by the furrow opener, while the furrow is open, the image indicative of a plurality of different characteristics relative to the furrow opened by the furrow opener and generate a sensor signal indicative of the plurality of different characteristics; and   a control system configured to determine a singular furrow quality metric, indicative of an overall quality of the furrow, based on the sensor signal indicative of the plurality of different characteristics relative to the furrow and to generate, based on the singular furrow quality metric, an action signal to control an action of the mobile agricultural machine.   
     
     
         15 . The mobile agricultural machine of  claim 14 , wherein the control system comprises:
 a furrow quality determination system configured to process the image of the furrow captured by the imaging system to extract a respective value corresponding to each characteristic of the plurality of different characteristics relative to the furrow indicated by the image of the furrow captured by the imaging system.   
     
     
         16 . The mobile agricultural machine of  claim 15 , wherein the furrow quality determination system is further configured to assign a respective scaled value to each respective value extracted from the image of the furrow, each sealed value indicating a quality of the corresponding characteristic. 
     
     
         17 . The mobile agricultural machine of  claim 16 , wherein the furrow quality determination system is further configured to aggregate the scaled values to generate the singular furrow quality metric. 
     
     
         18 . A method of controlling a mobile agricultural machine comprising:
 sensing, with a furrow sensing system, a plurality of different characteristics of a furrow, opened by a furrow opener on the mobile agricultural machine, while the furrow is open, wherein sensing the plurality of different characteristics of the furrow opened by the mobile agricultural machine comprises:
 capturing an image of the furrow opened by the mobile agricultural machine while the furrow is open, the image of the furrow indicative of the plurality of different characteristics of the furrow; 
   generating, with the furrow sensing system, a sensor signal indicative of the plurality of different characteristics sensed by the furrow sensing system;   determining a singular furrow quality metric, indicative of an overall quality of the furrow, based on the sensor signal indicative of the plurality of different characteristics of the furrow; and   generating an action signal to control the mobile agricultural machine based on the singular furrow quality metric.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein generating the action signal to control the mobile agricultural machine based on the singular furrow quality metric comprises:
 generating the action signal to control a user interface display on the mobile agricultural machine to generate an indication of the singular furrow quality metric.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein determining the furrow quality metric further comprises:
 processing the image of the furrow to extract a respective value corresponding to each characteristic of the plurality of different characteristics of the furrow indicated by the image of the furrow.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein determining the furrow quality metric further comprises:
 assigning a respective scaled value to each respective value, extracted from the image of the furrow, wherein each scaled value indicates a quality of the corresponding characteristic.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein determining the furrow quality metric further comprises:
 aggregating the scaled values to generate the singular furrow quality metric.   
     
     
         23 . The mobile agricultural machine of  claim 14 , wherein the action signal is configured to control a downforce generation subsystem, of the mobile agricultural machine, to control a downforce exerted by the downforce generation subsystem. 
     
     
         24 . The mobile agricultural machine of  claim 14 , wherein the action signal is configured to control an actuator, of the mobile agricultural machine, to control a depth of engagement of the furrow opener with the ground. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein generating the action signal to control the mobile agricultural machine based on the singular furrow quality metric comprises:
 generating the action signal to control a controllable subsystem of the mobile agricultural machine based on the furrow quality metric.   
     
     
         26 . The mobile agricultural machine of  claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to determine the singular furrow quality metric, indicative of the overall quality of the furrow, based on all characteristics of the plurality of different characteristics detected by the furrow sensor system. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein determining the singular furrow quality metric comprises determining the singular furrow quality metric, indicative of the overall quality of the furrow, based on all of the characteristics of the plurality of different characteristics of the furrow sensed by the furrow sensing system.